Dogs of War: Element Lords
by Metal Dragoon
Summary: AU the Earth wasn't as helpless as it appeared; Serenity wasn't as altruistic as she seemed. Terra has its own reincarnated warriors gathering to fight the coming battles alongside the Scouts even as a more powerful force emerges under Beryl's control
1. Chapter 1

The clamor of battle drowned out everything, even thought. Idly, he noted four behemoths and a titanic avian clashing against gigantic shadowed forms in the distance, the force of their blows such that he felt the tremors of each strike through the very soles of his armored feet. To his left was a gout of flame and a flash of lightning-streaked steel amongst a mob of the foul creatures that the Armies faced. To his right, a booming like thunder preceded a billowing mushroom cloud of dust and enemy bodies, while a mobile shadow moved through the ranks of deformed creatures in a blur of motion. In a back to back position not far from him were two others, one extremely small, almost child-like, though the trident it wielded with devastating power showed the strength of the figure was anything but childish. The other was a tall, somewhat lanky figure in a cape, wielding a rapier with finesse and grace even in the midst of battle. A circlet of gold was visible perched on the man's head, though like everyone else behind the carnage their features were indistinct, shadowed forms, though they all appeared to be males. Hefting his own sword, he charged into the ranks of enemies, a howling battle-cry streaming from his lips even as he swung the massive piece of metal…

"GAH!" Daniel Kheen shot up from his bed gasping, sweat soaking his sheets through. He ran one hand through his black, hair, his icy blue eyes hidden behind closed lids. A whine from the side caught his attention as his dog, a large wolf-like beast he'd named Fenrir, nudged at his hand with his cold wet nose. Daniel sighed as he stroked the dogs head. "Yeah boy, same thing as two days ago. I'm starting to think someone's trying to tell me something, but I'll be damned if I can figure out what it is." With that he turned and slid out of bed, giving the picture next to it his now customary, "morning dad".

The picture showed a black man in an American military uniform tickling a younger Daniel unmercifully, ice blue eyes shining happily while his mother, a Japanese national, shook her head and smiled in exasperation at the antics of her boys. That had been some years ago, before his father had died. Now they were living in his mother's home district of Juuban, having finished moving less than two months ago. Fenrir had been his first real friend in the area, as all of the kids tended to be a bit wary of him. Since his dad had been an American, a gaijin or "outsider", he wasn't looked upon with much favor by the more traditional parents in the area. And, kids being kids, the local children tended to keep away from him as well. Then one day when he'd been scouting out the neighborhood…

* * *

As Daniel passed by an alleyway, a flurry of motion caught his eye, before the muffled sound of a bottle breaking across flesh hit his ears, followed by a spoiled little kid's voice shrieking, "Yeah, hit the stupid mutt again!" As he got closer he saw exactly what was going on. A group of little punks had cornered a stray dog and were throwing whatever they could lay their grimy little hands on. The poor thing seemed almost dead on its feet and was whimpering as it tried to avoid the projectiles. Daniel had to raise a brow at that, most dogs he'd met would have ripped into the little punks by now, but this one seemed to be looking for a way out without having to go through the kids. Suddenly the canine made eye contact, and a shiver of… something went down the teen's spine.

He didn't know why, but he had to help that dog.

"OY! WHAT THE FECK ARE YOU LITTLE BRATS DOING?!" Normally Daniel was a somewhat quiet person, but when he got pissed, he could shame a banshee with the volume he cranked out. The punks scattered like the little roaches they were, leaving the dog to look warily at the teen. Daniel approached cautiously, hands out and low, crooning something just beyond hearing for a human.

But whatever was in his voice, the dog liked it, and so slumped to the ground with a pained grunt, to begin licking at its wounds. As Daniel got closer, he noticed that the dog, a male, had a bloody gash going from the forehead down diagonally across his left eye. The wound was bleeding profusely, and Daniel knew that that without medical treatment the dog would soon bleed to death.

"Alright boy, just stay calm…" Gently, so as not to spook him, Daniel slid his arms under the dog, noting the healthy sheen to his coat as he did so. The dog was a little thin true, but seemed to be in fairly good health, without any parasites that Daniel could see. "Let's get you somewhere they can help you." He remembered seeing a clinic down the road, perhaps they'd be able to help the poor thing.

A half hour later he was sitting beside a medical table, softly stroking the dogs unusually thick fur. He was asleep, knocked out by the doctor, who luckily had been an animal lover. After anesthetizing the poor thing, Daniel had helped the Doc stitch the deep gash. Now he was waiting for his mother to show up, as he'd borrowed the doctor's phone to tell her what was going on. He looked up as the door chime sounded, to see his mother walking in. She gave a soft smile as she saw him, before taking in the rather large dog beside him. Her eyes widened a bit, but she kept smiling.

"Couldn't leave him behind, could you?" she asked gently, smoothing her son's hair. He shook his head. "So much like your father," she sighed, before a muffled "wuf" caught the pair's attention. The dog was awake now, and watching the two humans with wise seeming amber eyes. His tail beat a muffled tattoo on the metal of the exam table, and Yuki Kheen couldn't help but sigh to herself. She already knew that her son felt responsible for the dog by now, and to tell the truth she missed just having more than herself and Daniel in the house. Luckily it had been left to her by her father and was fairly decent sized.

"So," she clapped her hands together and smiled brightly, "What's his name?"

Daniel looked at his mom for a second, before sharing a look with the dog. "Fenrir, my mom is so _cool_!" Fenrir yipped in agreement, tail going a mile a minute.

* * *

Now it was a week later and Daniel was getting to the edges of the neighborhood. He had barely scratched the surface of the ward as a whole, but had gotten a fairly detailed mental map of the area surrounding his house. He was trying to get as much of the area memorized as possible before school started up again in a few weeks. As Daniel rounded a corner into a long alley, a prickle of something seemed to tug at the very edge of his consciousness. He stopped for a moment, before a series of loud screams rent the air. Instincts ingrained from years living among fighting men had Daniel running towards the other end of the alley, Fenrir hot on his heels. But as he turned the final bend and emerged into the bright sunlight again, he stopped in shock.

Daniel gaped at the scene in front of him. On one side were the girls headlines had proclaimed to be the "protectors of love and justice", the Sailor Scouts. On the other were… some things with really damn big teeth and claws that appeared to have been interrupted mid-way though terrorizing the local populace. The blond dual-pigtailed girl stepped up and took a pose that some would call cute, some would call stupid, and that Daniel could only call retarded as all get-out

"Halt fiends! I am Sailor Moon, and in the name of the moon I will put an end to your evil!"

Daniel could only think of one thing to say to that. "She really needs to hire a writer or something."

The other girls all began to introduce themselves as well, each one taking a somewhat ridiculous pose to match their leaders. It would have been funny if it hadn't been such a tactical blunder. As they finished their rather lengthy introduction, Daniel couldn't help but wonder why the hell the monsters had just stood there instead of ripping the girls to pastel colored shreds. Then the monsters began to roar and clash their claws together.

Apparently they'd just realized what an opportunity they'd missed themselves. But even as they advanced on the Scouts Daniel felt that same prickle on the edge of his consciousness as before, except ten, no, a _hundred _times stronger than before.

At that moment twin reports like thunderclaps sounded, and the two monsters collapsed with holes through their midriffs, before they crumbled to dust. Standing behind them were two creatures that seemed even more horrible than the two they'd just slain, for their close resemblance to humans.

They were both about six foot seven, with deep blue, almost purple skin. Their ears were pointed and feathered, looking something like bats wings. Two fangs peeked over the edge of their lower lips, giving them a vampire-ish cast, and both were clad in loose, tattered gray gi, with belts made of chain. But one had huge, rock-like fists with sharp-looking bone protrusions on the four knuckles, and the other had gigantic metallic feet, with long, ripping claws tipping each toe. And while the previous two monsters had been vaguely female, with lumps that seemed to have suggested breasts on their chests, these two were definetely male.

In his head, Daniel felt a surge of raw rage alongside a torrent of strange energy, while a silvery mark began to flicker to life on his palm, fading in and out. A phantom glint shone around his opposite wrist, pulsing in time to the mark on his palm.

"Looks like the Boss seriously overestimated these chicks Swingz," the steel-footed one rumbled in a gravelly voice. His partner laughed, the sound obnoxious and braying, before nodding his head. His voice was as grating as his laugh when he spoke.

"Guess you're right Kickz. The energy they're putting off collectively isn't even enough to frighten a class Charlie! Maybe we should have just let the youma take them out instead; this probably won't be worth the effort."

"Or be much fun," Kickz added. Sailor Mars found her tongue at that moment, shaking off the shock of seeing what looked like a youma turn on its own kind.

"What the heck ARE you?!" She screeched. Mercury, who had been tapping away at her Mercury computer, spoke up tremulously.

"T-they appear to be some sort of youma, but the energy levels they're giving off dwarf anything we've ever run into before!"

Swingz laughed again. "Youma?!" He sneered, before spitting on the pile of dust that had been the creature he'd killed. "Don't make me laugh girlie. We're a breed apart. We're _youkai_!"

That declaration seemed to snap the other Scouts out of their trances. Sailor Moon began to assume another stance, saying "Well whatever you are, you're obviously evil so in the name of the Mo-OOF!" She was interrupted as Swingz suddenly seemed to blur, crossing the intervening distance in half an instant, and burying his fist in Moon's gut, sending the girl flying even as a small spray of blood erupted from her mouth. "Shaddup you twit," he growled, before backhanding the tall girl, Jupiter, into a brick wall, reducing it to rubble.

Even as the girls were being attacked by Swingz, Kickz hooked his claws into the pavement and ripped up a section of concrete. With a deft flex of his leg he sent it up into the air, before pivoting on his heel and using the same foot to shatter the block, the shrapnel spraying outwards towards the three upright girls; hands placidly clasped behind his back the entire time. Mars and Venus covered their faces, preventing eye loss, but they were still cut by the jagged stone on their arms and any other exposed skin. Mercury was hit in the stomach by a large, slightly rounded chunk. Her magically tough leotard/armor held, but she had the wind knocked out of her and she swore she heard a rib crack.

Kickz lazily resumed the posture he'd had before. Swingz blurred once again, coming to rest beside his companion and crossing his formidable arms. He spat on the ground again in disgust. "Pah, these little creampuffs ain't shit! Where's the real opponents? I swear if Adamantite woke us up just for this I'm gonna have words with him, General or not!"

Daniel clutched at his head as the strange energy pounded through his veins. A deep voice from beside him spoke up, though he couldn't tell who spoke. "Stop fighting it and work with it or you may be next!"

At that moment a feral growl burst through Daniels lips, seeming to roll like thunder through the surrounding area as a series of images poured thorough his head, a feeling like a key turning in a lock deep inside his psyche shuddering through him. The mark on his palm leapt into full clarity, a silvery ring of broken chains entwining each other, surrounding a paw print. On his wrist a silver bracer leapt into existence. Acting on seeming instinct he slammed his palm onto the bracer, a spark of energy flaring. A distant memory stirred, and he cried out in a voice that was raw and rough with power _**"CRY HAVOC AND LET SLIP THE DOGS OF WAR!!"**_

The bracer seemed to shiver, before glowing white-hot like molten steel. It began to expand, first down his hand, turning into a polished gauntlet, then backtracking up his arm. Everywhere the glow touched was incased in the same silvery armor. It continued to spread, picking up speed as it reached his torso A silvery plate, molded to fit comfortably to his chest appeared, followed by a loose collection of armor around his legs that afforded both protection and mobility at once while hardly seeming to weigh anything at all. As the glow reached his toes, covering his feet in tough looking pointy-toed steel boots, the glow around his neck, which had stopped, as if waiting for something, flared. He heard a clanking sort of "click" as something covered the lower back half and the entire upper half of his head. A sheet of darkness fell over his eyes for a moment, before bright light flared and he could see once more. His range of vision seemed unimpaired, but he knew he was wearing a half helmet of some kind. Finally, he "felt" the energy concentrating itself on his back, before a hefty weight settled there. Reaching back, he felt the hilt of a large sword placed perfectly for a rapid overhand draw. As his hand closed about that hilt, a rush of information hit him. Instantly he seemed to know the forms and style to make this blade one of the most devastating things on the field of combat.

Stepping into the light, he growled at the two youki, that same rage from before making him feel wild and dangerous. The monsters froze, as did the Sailor Scouts, who were picking themselves up woozily. "Who the hell are you?" snapped Kickz. Beneath the edge of his helmet, a dangerous grin spread as he reached slowly for the sword on his back, the words coming to him from someplace in him he usually couldn't reach except in his dreams.

"The ladies can call me Wolf. You two won't be hanging around long enough to call me anything." With that he drew the sword from his back in one fluid motion. Even he was put off by the sheer size of the blade when he actually saw it; it was huge. It seemed to have been modeled after a Scottish Claymore, with a straight blade that was sharpened on both sides, a blood channel running down the center. The cross guard was worked into the shape of a pair of crouching wolves, with their tails twisting down to form the hilt and curl round the pommel. And the sword seemed to be steaming in the air, white wisps curling around the blade. It took only a moment for Daniel (or rather, Wolf) to realize that the blade was actually _cold_, rather than hot.

Kickz gave a devilish grin as Swingz cracked the knuckles in one hand, each one going off like a small cannon. "Kickz, you take out the trash, I'll start tenderizing the new punching bag." With that he flexed his hands, causing the bony protrusions to lengthen and sharpen, until he looked like he had bone cleavers sprouting from each knuckle. Behind the youkai, the girls were pulling themselves together. Mars, her eyes alight with fury, growled.

"That was a cheap shot. _FIRE SOUL_!!" Kickz did a graceful _jete_, the stream of fire blasting past his head harmlessly. Jupiter stood, arms crossed in front of her as a small antennae rose from her headband, crackling electricity swirling around her for a moment before she released it. "_SUPREME THUNDER_!!" Kickz merely leapt to the side, using the hooked claws on his feet to adhere to the side of a building for a moment before springing away in an erratic pattern that was almost eye-burning in its speed and randomness. Blurring just like Swingz had, he reappeared mid-motion kicking Mars in the small of the back. She was flung like a rag doll, landing insensate nearly ten yards away even as Kickz leapt again. He lit gently on the ground behind a shaking Sailor Venus, who knew, without a doubt, that she was going to die.

Wolf saw the situation from where he was desperately blocking and parrying the snake-strike quick punches that Swingz was throwing at him, grunting with each that found its mark. The youkai hit with the force of a rampaging tank, but his armor seemed to take the blows and redistribute the force throughout the entire suit, making a blow that would cleave an Abrams in half survivable. A detached, bemused portion of his mind noted that even the few courses in self-defense he'd taken from a few Marines at his father's last couple of bases were no explanation for how he was moving now, like a battle-hardened warrior, even if his body wasn't used to following these new muscle memories he seemed to have acquired. But the immediate concern of saving the blonde Sailor Scout's life was foremost in his mind. But no matter what he thought of, he couldn't reach her in time!

"_Dark Soul Sandstorm!_" A spinning cone of what looked like ink black sand slammed into the youkai's chest, knocking him off balance and allowing Venus a chance to escape as a humanoid shadow flowed into the space she had just occupied, taking up a stance against the monster. "About time you "woke up" Boss, I've had to take out two more of these creeps before they could get to the powder-puff patrol for the past month by myself!"

--At the Same Time--

"Sailor Moon!" A black cat streaked across the battlefield to where her princess was lying prone. The punch from Swingz had knocked her senseless, and she showed no signs of coming too anytime soon. The black cat nudged at the girl's head, vainly trying to get her to wake. A footfall in the darkness of the alley Moon had landed at the head of had Luna snapping to attention. "Who's there?" she quavered. A pair of basso chuckles was the only response. "I-I warn you, don't come near me, I'm very powerful!" Luna had started to back towards Moon when she ran up against a rather thin, hairy leg.

"Hello little moon-cat," A voice like black silk said in a peculiar combination of a purr and a growl. Luna yowled as she leapt into the air, coming muzzle-to-muzzle with a jet black cross between a jackal and a greyhound. "Been a long time, hasn't it furball?" Luna yowled and leapt straight up once again as another voice, this one deep as Artic snowdrifts, sounded behind her. Coming down she landed smack-dab on the muzzle of… Fenrir? Yes, the wolfish dog was there as well, the quartered circle scar on his brow glinting strangely in the half-light.

Luna dashed away as quickly as possible, nearly cowering in front of Moon's prone form even as she attempted to muster together enough courage to defend her princess should these creatures (they'd spoken after all, and as far as she could recall no animals except Moon Cats were blessed with that particular gift) attack, when they sniffed the air and turned away.

Fenrir glanced over at his old packmate Anubis, utilizing one of the oldest canine abilities in existence, the Pack Voice, a form of group telepathy. _ 'It's really a shame that her memory was sealed like that, you'd think their precious Moon Crystal would be a bit more… effective, putting in memory triggers and degrading blocks instead of sealing the whole lump sum and only letting it trickle through a little at a time. It may cause some problems until she can remember us.'_

Anubis snorted _'The Lunarians placed far too much stock in "order" and "light" being the end-all-be-all of Good. To achieve the things you're talking about would require a fine ability to meld chaotic and ordered energies. As far as we know only the Gaia Heart can do something like that, even if it can't wield raw power on the same scale as the Moon Crystal.' _ The jackal tilted his head as a cry reached his ears. _'It appears that my own ward has joined the fray. Shall we see how well the two of them can cooperate?'_

--Back at the Fight--

Venus gaped at the dark stranger who stood over her protectively. He wore a black trench-coat that flapped in the wind his attack had kicked up, under which she saw deep purple body armor of some sort. The small amounts of skin that showed were well bronzed, and the traces of hair that slipped from beneath he back of his helmet were glossy and black. He wore a half-helmet like Wolf, one crafted to resemble the Egyptian god of the Dead, Anubis, and like his lupine counter-part he carried weaponry, a pair of bladed tonfa that seemed to drink in the light around them. The tips of the weapons were slightly elongated, and the blade was thicker at the center than it should have been, Venus noted absently, still a bit bemused from the save. He turned and gave her a calculating look that she felt even through the dark lenses of his helmet, and for a moment Venus felt a sense of deja-vu.

"I suggest you get off your shapely ass and help me here," the dark young man growled. Venus actually blushed at the complement hidden in the order and began to rise, before the he fell on top of her, knocking her back down on her "shapely" ass. _"Up or down, make up your mind!" _she screeched, before realizing that he'd saved her from another kicking attack by the impossibly powerful youkai. With a spin of his legs and hips that had Venus wincing and rubbing at her spine just from watching, he was on his feet once more. He motioned to Kickz with one of his blades. "C'mon bigfoot, the Jackal's got a special place in hell all set up just for you."

Opposite this scene, Wolf was beginning to gain an upper hand against Swingz. Each time the youkai struck out the young man moved his blade to block with only a twitch of his wrist. And each time Swingz made contact with the blade his hands came back with ice peeling off of the jagged blades protruding from his knuckles. The cold was slowly starting to sap even his more than considerable strength as he tried to get around this seemingly expert swordsman's defenses.

Behind his helmet, Wolf winced as he barely managed to turn aside another earth shattering blow, the vibrations that rang through the sword, into his gauntlets and then into his very bones threatening to shatter his skeleton from the inside out. 'I need a way to attack from a distance!' he though frantically. Even as he thought this his body seemed to go into auto-pilot, making an astounding ten foot leap back as he brought his sword around to his side like a batter about to swing. Streams of phantom colors began to swirl around the blade, before weaving together, coming to a point some six inches off the tip of the sword. _**"AURORA BLADE!!" **_He swung, and as he did so the bright colors lengthened like a whip, slashing into Swingz's chest. The youkai wasn't even able to whimper as his entire body froze, before crumbling to a heap of icy particles. Wolf had to lean on his sword, panting heavily as his energy levels plummeted. _'That was… most definitely… a "finishing move",'_ he thought to himself as he struggled to stay upright. A slight groan from next to him caught his attention.

Mars was sprawled out in a heap, her fuku torn and her leg twisted beneath her at an angle that made Daniel wince. Hobbling over, he set the leg straight as quickly as possible, before checking her pulse and pupils like an old medic had taught him. Breathing seemed to be normal for a human, and her eyes didn't look dilated, so it appeared she wasn't in shock, but truly unconscious.

Wolf sat back on his heels, rubbing his face (what he could reach of it anyway), and sighed to himself. "Okay, I've got some scraps here that I can use for the main part of a splint, but I need some bandages or rags to tie the whole thing together until she can get medical attention or whatever it is that magical girls do when they get hurt." He shut up as he realized he was beginning to babble. Not very professional for a… he looked down at his armor and sword and raised a mental brow… whatever he was.

"Mew?"

Daniel looked up to find a white tom cat looking at him from a few feet away. There was a long scrap of cloth that seemed to be wound around his legs, making it difficult for him to move. Daniel slowly moved towards him, making sure not to make any threatening motions. The cat seemed nervous, but Daniel began to talk to him in what he hoped was a soothing voice.

"Hey there fella, looks like you got tangled pretty bad huh? Well it looks like we can help each other out. I need that cloth, and you need to get rid of it, so just stay calm and… there." He carefully unwound the strip of cloth from the cat, before hurrying back to Mars. Behind him the cat seemed to give a sigh of relief, before bounding off. A few short moments later, Mars' leg was in a crude looking, but effective splint. As he finished, he heard a shout from back at the battle. Checking over his work once more to make sure it was secure he grabbed his sword and ran out of the alley. The brief break he'd taken to tend to the fiery girl's wounds had slightly reenergized him. He was ready to finish this.

Jackal twisted and flowed through Kickz's powerful string of attacks like a dancer, seeming to contort his body in impossible ways in order to avoid those crushing blows. In reality he was using the length of his coat to mask his movements and make him into a large, insubstantial target, instead of a smaller, much more corporeal one. Twisting his bladed tonfa so that they began to spin along the sides of his arms, he concentrated his energies into them, mumbling something in a deep, guttural tongue. A deep black aura formed over the blades; leaving a diabolical looking vapor trail as they spun, which solidified into a solid disk of energy. He flung his arms forward at the same time, performing an odd twist with his wrists as he did so. The two disks seemed to writhe and flow through the air, spinning together into a black vortex that solidified as it went.

The entire process had taken all of a second and a half.

"_Dark Soul Sandstorm!_" The blast caught Kickz square in the chest, knocking him to the ground. The youkai snarled, and tried to get back to his feet, but found the ground he was on had frozen solid, sticking to him like a tongue to a frozen flag pole. The trapped youkai craned his head and saw Wolf squatting at the edge of the ice, one hand flat on the ground. "_Tundra Trapper_," the teen gasped under his now visible breath. However the previous use of the Aurora Blade had sapped most of his strength, enfeebling this new technique. With a sickening wrench, Kickz tore himself loose, leaving a fair amount of skin and muscle tissue behind in the process. He stood unsteadily, black ichor dripping from his wounds, and took a stance.

But before he could move Jackal was in front of him in a stance of his own, one tonfa extended low, the other held close at neck level and both legs planted firmly. He exploded into a storm of motion, arms becoming so many blurs as he stabbed the youkai innumerable times. After an eternity (ten seconds) of motion, he leapt away from the stock-still Kickz, and crossed his tonfa in front of his chest. "_**FADE TO BLACK…**_" he whispered in a voice that resonated through the street, before sliding his tonfa away from each other with a hiss of steel. A visible spark of black energy connected the two blades for a moment as he did so, before arcing out and touching Kickz's chest lightly. The results were spectacular.

Every cut and slice Jackal had inflicted in that impossibly long ten seconds began to pulse with dark light, cracks in his armor-like hide spreading out from the original openings. The light pulsed once more, and the youkai shattered like a glass statue.

Jackal dropped his arms to his sides and then; with a twist and a flourish, concealed his weapons in his sleeves. He smirked at Daniel. "Hmph, looks like you've got some skills Boss. Took me twice as long to put my first youkai down, and I had Anubis coaching me from the sidelines." Daniel stared at him, and the other masked figure's visible face puckered a little. "You just started didn't you?" Daniel cocked his head to the side, not trusting himself to speak.

"This whole thing, you didn't know about it until just this second, did you? The armor, the weapons, the powers, you're still sure it's just a dream, aren't you?" Daniel nodded slightly, before casting a look towards the Sailor Scouts, who were slowly turning towards them with hesitant looks.

"I believe this discussion would be best conducted in private," he said, pitching his voice lower than it actually was. Jackal nodded, before palming something. A flick of his wrists produced two dense clouds of gray smoke. For a moment Daniel was disoriented, before a figure dashed by him. "Take to the roofs, then move to the alleys. Meet me in the junkyard five blocks northwest." Then the figure was gone. Daniel leapt, found a foothold on a small ledge, then leapt again, rising out of the smoke cloud. He landed lightly on the rooftops, and began to leap away, each bound seeming to cover more and more distance even as his legs settled into a sort of intense half-run that he felt he could keep up for hours.

Two blocks away from the battlefield, he dropped into an alley, noiselessly bounding off the sides of the walls on his way down, never losing an ounce of speed. When he hit the pavement he reoriented himself, using the sun as his compass, and took off for the junkyard. He'd stumbled across it before, a small lot that was consigned to the holding of various pieces of large mechanical junk that the owner didn't feel like getting rid of. It was something of a rarity in space starved Japan, where every extra inch cost an arm and a leg to acquire.

With a minor flex of his legs he hopped the wooden fence surrounding the place, and landed quietly on the roof of an old car with its engine removed. Keeping one hand near the hilt of his sword, he moved through the shadows of the junkyard, senses on high alert for anything out of the ordinary. He froze as pebbles skittered off of something metal, then turned to face the opposite direction the sound had come from. Jackal was standing behind him, what showed of his face harder than granite.

"Good, you've got both instincts and the intellect to know when they're being fooled. You'll need them." Gone was the informal speech the dark teen had used before, each word now sounded deliberate and much thought upon. His voice had also dropped nearly an entire octave, the slightly hoarse inflection indicating that he'd been pitching it higher earlier. One of Daniel's eyebrows rose and, unknown to him, so did the matching eyebrow on his mask. Jackal gave a cool smirk at that, guessing the cause.

"I find it much easier to maintain my separate identities if I alter my speech patterns while in uniform, so to speak. However, as we are allies according to my guardian I see no need to do so while it is only us." The other brow lifted.

"Guardian?"

"That's right kid, guardian," A new voice interjected. Both Jackal and Daniel turned to the source, and Daniel very nearly fell flat on his ass in shock. "This has gotta be a hallucination, either that or I've cracked!"

Fenrir shook his grizzled muzzle as he stepped fully into the light. "Neither one pup. You're quite sane, and under no sort of drugged influence. The fact of the matter is; you're a VIP of the highest magnitude, a member of a club so exclusive that there are only ten members."

Daniel shook his head, a strained grin on his lips. "Ten members huh? Well that rules out Akatsuki at least." Fenrir snorted.

"This is serious business pup. You are the reincarnate of one of the ten members of the Council of Elemental Lords of Earth, the Lord of the Frozen Wastes and wielder of the Borealis."

"Waitta minute, I thought there were only four major elements. And what do you mean "of Earth"?"

Fenrir raised his lips in a wolf's approximation of a smile. "The Chinese circle of ten elements is more accurate than you'd think, and it allows for a greater balance of powers than the western earth, wind, water and fire. They are Fire, Water, Ice, Wind, Light, Darkness, Wood, Earth, Lightning and Steel. And as for being of Earth, those young women you just saved?"

"The Sailor Scouts, right?"

"Yes. They are reincarnates as well, but of five of the Princesses of the nine planets of this solar system."

"So wouldn't that mean that one of them would represent the Earth?"

"I can see that this Q&A session is going to take some time pup. You might want to remove your armor, and then we should probably move to a more… secure location."

"And how do I do that?"

"Simply will the armor to return whence it came."

Daniel shook his head, but closed his eyes. 'Return whence you came,' he thought at the armor as best he could. As soon as the thought was completed, he felt the armor begin to slide up from his feet, and down his neck, heading for his right wrist. He opened his eyes to see a steel bracer with a running wolf etched in silver on it.

"There. And whenever you need the armor again, merely place you hand upon it and speak the activation code."

"Cry havoc and all that, right?"

"Catchy, isn't it?" rasped Jackal, who'd removed his own armor without Daniel noticing. The teen beneath was darkly tanned, and obviously of Arabian descent, having an almost sheik-like profile, with more than a hint of desert bandit. His eyes were a dark grey, nearly to the point of being black. He was now dressed in gray pants, with a dark blue shirt, black jacket and black tennis shoes.

"Not a very colorful person, are you…"

"Ramses, Ramses Ikmarial."

"Daniel Kheen. Pleasure to meet you Ramses."

"The same to you Daniel."

"Now then, I think we should adjourn to one of the safe houses we've scouted out before we get to the real meat and potatoes of this story." Daniel checked his watch then blanched.

"Actually I've got six minutes to be home for dinner." Daniel paused for a minute. "Care to come with? Mom'll be thrilled that I've made a friend. Well," he threw a glance at Fenrir, "a human friend anyway."

Ramses shrugged. "I'm not expected home for some time. I'll simply call my father and tell him that I'm at a friend's."

Daniel nodded. "Right then. You won't regret it, my mom makes some of the greatest pot stickers this side of the Japanese Sea!"

--

Later on, Daniel and Ramses were sequestered in Daniel's room, with Anubis and Fenrir laying down on the floor, while the two boys lounged on chairs.

"So what's the deal with these Planetary Princesses?"

"Right. Well, eons ago the planet was actually quite technologically advanced, as were the other planets. Each planet was it's own kingdom, but the greatest of them was the Moon Kingdom. The earth was actually considered a bit of a backwater for a few reasons. One, we were the only ones who still practiced the arts of war as a means of self defense, mainly because there were several wild factions of creatures that have been relegated to myth by today's societies; such as vampires, werewolves, kappa, kitsune, all sorts. Another was that the planet was severely underdeveloped when compared to the other planets. The third was that we refused to be a part of the "Empire" the Moon Kingdom had constructed though alliances with the rest of the solar system. While we would gladly lend our aid as allies should the need arise, we were too independent to commit ourselves to some alliance of dainty courtiers. The people of Earth were a hardy, rough race; something akin to those Saiya-jins from that show you like so much, though far less brutal in most cases."

Anubis began to speak then. "There was only one king of Earth at any one time, but he always deferred to the Elemental Lords when matters concerning the entire planet were brought up. Each Lord ruled over a certain portion of the globe, though they were more in the way of being caretakers than rulers. You," the jackal-like creature nodded at Daniel, "were in charge of what's now the Northern Arctic Circle, encompassing most of upper North America, specifically upper Canada; and Northern Eurasia, while you," he gestured at Ramses with a paw, "were actually more of a traveling trouble-shooter, along with the Lords of Light, Wind, and Lightning. Although," he sounded thoughtful now, "The Lords of Darkness habitually made their permanent homes around the area now called Egypt." Daniel had to stifle a chuckle at the thought of any good guy being called "The Lord of Darkness".

"At the time, the next Heir Apparent, Prince Endymion was also a member of the council, the Lord of Wind. He was also courting one of the Princesses, though I can't remember which one. It meant he spent quite a bit of time up on the Moon Kingdom. Myself and Fenrir are more along the lines of military advisers than anything, and so neither one of us went with him unless needed for protocol." The jackal gave a canine smile "We usually ended up either chasing the protocol advisor up a tree, or lounging around with the head of palace security; who was a fairly laid back fella outside tactical situations." Daniel and Ramses both raised an eyebrow at that. "Don't give me that look, they were mooncats, we're Terran canines. It was expected." The canine grin faded though, as Anubis' voice grew somber.

"Unfortunately the good times didn't last. One of the ladies of the Terran Court got it into her head that she deserved to be in charge of everything, whether it was terrestrial or not. Lady by the name of Beryl. Got mixed up with a REAL nasty being called Metallia from a parallel negative dimension called the "Negaverse". She managed to corrupt six of the most powerful people on the planet at the time, the four captains of the Prince's Royal Guard, and two of the Lords themselves, the former Lords of Wood and Lightning, who each believed that they weren't as "respected" as the other Lords. They broke ranks and joined her, warped by their own greed and the mind-altering energies of the Negaverse." The jackal looked down, and Fenrir took over the story.

"Beryl split her forces, taking the four Captains, now the "Four Kings of Heaven"," he nodded as Daniel snorted and Ramses raised one brow, "Yes, pretentious as hell, but by that time they were so full of themselves that they really believed in those titles. Anyway, she laid siege to the Moon Empire, using creatures drawn from the Negaverse alongside the Four's considerable power. However the other two, being former Lords were exponentially more powerful, and able to command vast hordes of twisted abominations that far outstripped the beings the "Four Kings" commanded in terms of power. They were called Youkai, to differentiate between them and the less powerful but more plentiful Youma. They remained on Earth as a distraction for the Lords and their armies. Near the tail end of the war the Prince managed to make a break for the Moon to see if he could help out. You gentlemen stayed as a rearguard. Next thing I know, the Gaia Heart is going ballistic, there's a huge pulse of pure Order energy from the moon palace, and then _**BAM**_!" he smacked his paw on the floor, "Lights out." Now Anubis took over again.

"We've surmised that the Moon Kingdom's ultimate weapon, the Silver Imperium Crystal, was used in some fashion that angered the Gaia Heart, prompting it to force us, the Fallen Lords and the Youkai we were facing into some form of stasis, since it was incapable of destroying them outright, while reincarnating all of the Lords, including a new Wood and Lightning."

Daniel felt it was finally time to interject. "You've mentioned this "Gaia Heart" twice now, what is it?"

Anubis looked solemn. "The Gaia Heart is the focal point of all of Earth's energy and will. It is a living crystal that has an ability that is native only to the creatures of earth though on a much grander scale, the ability to flawlessly combine Chaotic and Ordered energy, meaning it was able to do things that the purely Order based Silver Imperium Crystal could never be capable of, no matter the fact that it was nearly ten times as powerful as the Heart. The Lords took turns guarding it, but I can't recall who had it before the forced stasis."

Ramses nodded. "So what's our game plan now?"

"Right now we need to concentrate on finding the other Lords and their advisers, military or otherwise; most especially the Prince."

"How are we supposed to do that, they could be scattered around the globe."

Fenrir nodded. "Most likely they were when they first reincarnated, but we can sense one another and the other Lords. And since we've awakened, it means that the Gaia Heart is active once more. Furthermore the Youkai that you both defeated today means that the Fallen and their minions have been woken as well. The two of you together are no match for that army, only the Lords as a united group were ever able to take them with any hope of winning."

"But there's only two of them!" Daniel protested. Fenrir nodded sagely.

"Yes, two of them with magnified Nega-Verse powers and an army at their backs, not to mention decades more field experience then either of you possess, former life memories notwithstanding. Trust me pup, we need at LEAST half the Lords together to stand a fighting chance."

Ramses cleared his throat. "That still doesn't explain how we're supposed to get to them." Anubis and Fenrir shared a look, before the jackal answered.

"You're not, they'll come to you. Like my colleague said, the advisers can sense the Lords. The more of you that are gathered in one place, the greater the power signature you send out. The different advisers will sense that concentration of power and lead their respective Lords to it, further magnifying the power signature. I suspect that the Heart will also work behind the scenes to bring you all together as well, changing small details to lead to the conclusions it wants."

Daniel nodded in understanding. "A conciously controlled Butterfly Effect."

"Exactly. Although when this hurricane hits, it's going to be more than just a little windstorm."

* * *

At the Hino shrine, things were less sanguine.

"Ooooh, my stomach," Usagi groaned. All of the Scouts had gathered to lick their wounds before going to their respective homes. Makoto had ended up carrying Rei all the way back, the girls broken leg mending slowly. She wouldn't be walking again for a little while, but thankfully they were still on summer break, for what it was worth. Ami was still cradling her ribcage, mindful of the tenderness even as her accelerated healing took care of the damage, while Minako was still dazed by the hits she'd taken before being saved. Suddenly Rei snapped at the ditzier of the two blonds.

"Stop whining meatball-head, we've got more important things to think about than the fact that you're still sore! We all got completely thrashed, and if those two guys hadn't shown up when they did we'd be dead. D-E-A-D, _DEAD_! Those things weren't after our energy, they were after our _heads_! If those two guys in armor hadn't shown up we'd have been killed; easily." Makoto spoke up then.

"Speaking of which, who WERE they?! They weren't Scouts, that much is for sure. They used weapons, kinda like Tuxedo Mask and his cane and rose. But they were a lot more... involved, in the actual fighting." Usagi looked indignant at this slight against her handsome hero, but Makoto waved her hands, trying to calm her friend. "Not that Mask isn't a great help, but these guys _really_ tore into those things."

Minako put one finger under her chin in thought, looking up at the ceiling as the neurons fired. "Maybe we should try and contact them, get their help?"

"Absolutely _NOT_!" The girls all froze as Luna made herself heard for the first time during the "meeting". "We don't know that this entire debacle wasn't just a set-up by Beryl and her forces! Those men may be as monstrous as the creatures they destroyed!" Then Artemis spoke up, though the dry tone in his voice had most of the girls checking their ears.

"I sincerely doubt that "monsters" would take the time to set and splint a broken leg of an unconscious enemy, even one they were trying to fool; especially when they thought they were unobserved." Luna opened her mouth, but the normally easy-going Artemis cut her off with a glare. "I've remembered a bit of my past too Luna, and as it turns out I was head of the Security detail for the Palace. Dealing with these sorts of situations was my _job_."

"Be that as it may I am the Senior Advisor here, and I do not believe that those men can be trusted."

"Men? C'mon Luna they were barely older than any of the girls if their heights were anything to go by."

"What do you mean "if their height's were anything to go by", they were extremely tall, far too tall to be that young."

"Luna you seem to forget that not everyone on this island originated here. The skin tones for the two weren't matching anything I've seen in my time wandering the city, and they both spoke with foreign accents, although they tried fairly hard to hide them. I'd have to say that they're more than likely from the West, meaning that their heights are perfectly acceptable for someone around the girls' age." Artemis' eyes narrowed as his ears flattened against his head. "Something got you spooked and whatever it is you think it has to do with these two warriors. Now are we going to have to play 20 Questions, or are you gonna get over your ego and tell us what happened?"

The Scouts heads were flashing back and forth between the two cats, having never seen this kind of disagreement between them. Luna bristled a bit, before she slumped down, all energy leaving her.

"Very well then. I wanted to wait until we had more information but I see you won't let this lie." She proceded to detail her encounter with the two strange canines when she'd gone to check on Sailor Moon. As she finished Artemis looked thoughtful, but not exactly worried.

"So they basically snuck up on you, scared the living daylights out of you, confirmed that they knew what you were, and left without either trying to make some form of introduction or any sort of agressive behaviour?" Luna blinked, she hadn't thought of it like that.

"Well, I suppose so. Why?" Artemis combed one ear with a paw as he sat on his haunches, an intense look on his face.

"I'm not sure, but there's something niggling at the back of my mind, and there doesn't seem to be any sort of unpleasent connotations attached to it. Give me some time to meditate on this and I might be able to recall exactly why those descriptions sound familiar."

Luna sniffed. "Well I don't know about you, but the two of them certainly put me on edge! It wasn't natural hearing something other than a mooncat talk." Artemis actually laughed at that. "What's so funny?"

"You mean you really don't remember the other species? I mean sure we were unique _on the moon_ but I certainly remember several sentient creatures that visited on diplomatic missions from earth at one point or another."

Rei leaned forward, her curiosity aroused. "Like what?"

"Well there was a company that was run by kappas that wanted to try their hand at harvesting some of the valuable aquatic lifeforms on Mars, as well as a little deep-sea excavation for one." Artemis scratched his head for a moment, eyes getting distant as he tried to recall more. "I'm not sure what happened, but the deal fell through a little bit before the war." He shook his head. "Sorry girls, but that's the most I've got on that subject right now. But we're off topic." He got up and began to pace along the lip of the shelf he was on, doing a remarkably good impression of a caged tiger for something so small. "The two most important questions right now are whether or not to trust these two warriors, and to figure out where these "youkai" came from. The two dogs Luna met are irrelevant right now, as they haven't made a move to help or hinder us as far as we can tell; but keep one eye peeled and if any of you see them hanging around, contact the others immediatly and stay in open areas, just to be safe." He looked at Ami. "Ami, could you access the Mercury supercomputer and see what you can dig up? I know most of the data from the Silver Millenium is either halfway incomprehensible or completely corrupted, but it may be the only source of information on the Youkai and this "Adamantite" they mentioned that we've got." His gaze shifted to Rei. "Rei, I'd like to ask for you to see what the Sacred Flame can tell us once you're up to getting back to the shrine. Any information could be vital, even the most innocuous seeming tidbit." Rei nodded.

"What about us?" Makoto asked, leaning forward. Minako and Usagi nodded as well, looking determined. Luna just looked flabbergasted at being ousted from her usual command position by the lazy Artemis.

"We may need to step up patrols, especially if Beryl's gained some new muscle. And we may also need to see about stepping up training as well. Right now Makoto's got an edge over the rest of you when it comes to hand-to-hand combat, but if more of those Youkai show up we'll be in trouble. The way we got man-handled out there today shows that even though we made some serious improvements too many of our victories were more likely luck and lack of skill on the enemy's part."

The girls looked crushed as Artemis seemingly dismissed all of their victories as flukes. He noticed and sat down with a thud. "Now don't look so down girls, I wasn't saying that you haven't done an exemplary job so far; I'm just saying that we've hit an entirely new league of opposition and unless we bring our game up to par we might as well lay down and die. We can't afford to get complacent this late in the game, do you all understand that?"

Surprisingly, the first one to look up was Usagi. Her blue gaze was focused and her normally sweet smile was thinned out in a serious expression. "You're right Artemis. We're too close to finishing this." Makoto nodded.

"We've come too far to fall on our faces now!" Minako punched the air.

"That's right! We've gotta step up to the plate and bring out the beast inside!" Everyone ignored her mangling of yet another saying. Ami gave a small nod as she began to jot down several ideas for areas to begin her search in.

"We've got to keep advancing ourselves!"

Rei nodded quietly, the usually firey Miko deep in thought on the warriors, one in particular. '_Why did he help me? And who _is_ he?_'

Luna sighed to herself as she shook here head. When had Artemis become so forceful, not to mention tactically inclined? She didn't like being removed from her position as the lead advisor, but he made far too much sense to ignore. She'd go with it, but at the first sign of him faltering she would take the mantle up again.

* * *

In a dark corner of the Negaverse, two shadowed figures sat at a small table, mugs in hand. One took a long draught, then sighed as he wiped his mouth with a mailed arm. "Well, the first wave was almost a complete failure, but it gave us some valuable intel." His voice was rough and deep, with a growling rasp to it.

The second nodded, fingers drumming a quick tattoo out on the tabletop. "Indeed. The question is, which is the more important target? The relatively defenseless but somewhat experienced Scouts? Or the still incomplete band of half-trained Lords?" This one's voice was light and quick, the words almost tumbling out over one another even through great thought appeared to be put into each sentence. His companion nodded, stroking a bearded chin.

"Her Majesty desires the Scouts' destruction above all else, but to ignore the Lords would be like handing them a dagger and showing them our backs. Even if only two have awakened and they only have access to basic abilities and weaponry they're still extremely formidable foes. And we've probably shaken the girls' faith in themselves as well." He sighed once more before draining his mug. "There's no help for it, the introduction and interaction of our two enemy factions invalidates most of the data the Four Kings have gathered on the Scout's behaviour patterns. We need to do more in depth recon if we hope to pinpoint their current vulnerable spots." His companion refilled his mug with a pitcher at hand and the two raised their mugs in a toast.

"To the destruction of the Scouts and Lords."

"To our futures as joint rulers of Earth under Beryl."

There was a quiet 'clink' of glass on glass.


	2. Chapter 2

(AN: Just a short note to warn folks, I'm going with the original version of the Four Kings, meaning _all _four of them are male, and there will be some homosexual themes going on there. You have been warned.)

* * *

It had been almost a week since the Scouts had tangled with the two Youkai, and already Artemis' new training regimen was starting to tire them out. Minako had groaned pitifully, asking for a break after he'd had them doing laps, only to have her adviser look her in the eye and ask her in a saccharine voice if she thought the Youkai would lay down and let themselves be destroyed if she batted her eyelashes at them. Makoto was doing better than the others due to her training in the martial arts, but even she was starting to feel the burn. The cat had even scouted out several locations for them to practice their powers in secret, to gain a better grasp of what they could and could not do with their magic, and improve their control of their current abilities.

Rei had been staring intently into the Sacred Flame for a few hours every night, but so far all she'd seen was the same image. A pack of wild dogs baying for blood as they attacked vague dark shadows even as their numbers blurred; making it impossible to count how many there actually were, while fleeting great shapes hung in the background, just out of sight. She felt no malevolence from them, either the dogs or the shapes, but the dark shadows were immeasurably evil. And in the end the visions always culminated in the same way, a pair of eyes; wild, calculating, and yet somehow reassuring; looking at her. She couldn't see the face of whoever they belonged too, merely the eyes, and the flames did nothing to reveal their color to her. She'd questioned her grandfather about it, but the old man had no answers except "I believe that it will be reveled in good time Rei. You must have patience."

Artemis on the other hand, had smiled like she'd just handed him the keys to a dairy. "I'd say that might be a good sign that those boys from earlier were on our side then," the cat had said, before turning his attention back to planning out the next training session with Ami over their communicators. Luna had merely huffed and returned to perusing the local news channels for any sort of story on these boys, whom the media had dubbed the "Dogs of War" due to their weapons and the canine theme that both sported. Apparently some tourist with more bravery than intelligence had hidden and caught a few pictures with their camera. Rei sighed as she shifted to keep her legs from falling asleep, thinking about what her friends were doing right now as she closed her eyes to relax them after staring into the flames for so long.

Minako and Usagi were out doing patrols in their civilian clothes (at least that was what Rei hoped they were doing, though odds were that they'd turned it into a shopping trip by now), Makoto was resting at home after nearly working herself to exhaustion, and Ami...

* * *

Ami Mizuno was running for her life. She'd been forced to take a shortcut through a slightly rougher part of the district to get home from the library, due to a traffic accident that had blocked her normal route. Unfortunately, while the Sailor Scouts had done a bang-up job of cleaning up the youma population, they hadn't done much to negate the numbers of hoodlums and punks that populated the back alleys. If anything, the fear of a youma attack had made their lives easier, because people were that much easier to scare into submission. Which in turn, had led to an upswing in the gang numbers, which led right to her current predicament.

"Come on honey, we're not gonna hurt ya!"

"Yeah babe, we just wanna talk a little!"

"You look smart, and we need someone to help us with our anatomy homework!"

Ami shivered at that last lewd comment, even as the three boys that were chasing her cackled. She turned another corner, hoping to get away, only to crash into someone that was only slightly taller than she was. The teen let out a harsh woosh of breath even as he caught Ami by her shoulders to steady her, somehow managing to keep his balance. Gentle green eyes contemplated the rather cute package that had just practically shoved itself into his arms.

"Hey there, what's the rush?" Ami was too preoccupied with looking over her shoulder in fear to take note of the boy's features, her face paling as one of her pursuers gave a loud whoop. Now the eyes narrowed as gentle hands quickly maneuvered Ami around him so she was facing down the expanse of the alley. "I see. Get going, I'll stall them."

Ami, in a rare fit of panicked fear, took off without a second glance at the boy who had promised to help her, intent on making to her and her mother's apartment in record time. The eyes studied her fleeting form for a moment, a look halfway between recognition and simple male appreciation of a fine female form lighting them, before a lewd comment hardened them from a gentle leaf green to dark emerald. He turned, hands disappearing into wide sleeves, coming out full of paper-covered spheres. Fingers snapped, a small ring of dull flint on either thumb scrapping against a rough sandpaper ring on his pointer fingers, causing sparks to flare. Elfin features curled into a wicked smile as the first thug rounded the corner, just in time to see some kid in a red hoodie throw a handful of hissing globes at his feet, right before his world exploded in clouds of choking smoke and blistering heat. His two buddies skidded to a stop as they caught up with their leader, who was now curled in a ball, smoke rising from his clothes as he pawed at his eyes. Looking around, they couldn't spot the girl they'd been chasing, nor whomever had done this to their boss.

In the shadows of the fire escape above them, a ghostly set of chuckles hung in the air for a moment, before dancing away on the wind.

* * *

Several blocks away, in a bunker underneath a junkyard...

"So what's the explanation behind this? You guys whip it up with your magical beast powers or something?" Daniel was currently looking around a snug little concrete room that appeared to be in excellent condition. It was part of a suite of rooms that extended under the junkyard, including a fairly large space that looked like it might have been a garage in the past. Fenrir shot his charge an odd look.

"Hardly, this was a shelter that the rather far-sighted (or paranoid, take your pick) master of the house that used to stand on the lot above us constructed during the end of World War Two. Luckily the utility companies never needed to go through this space laying cables or pipes, and the subway doesn't run through or beneath here either, though it came very close. So it's not on any of the current maps the city possess of underground facilities."

"Which means it's a perfect place for us to set up in as a training facility and base of operations."

"Precisely," Ramses cut in, dusting off his pants as he and Anubis entered the room. "With a few minute modifications we should be able to convert this space to our needs quite nicely."

"What about power and running water? I don't exactly have the bank lying around to pay for the bills this place will generate when put into constant use."

"Whoever last used this bunker was quite a cunning individual, they apparently tied into the city's main power and water lines in a very discrete manner. There are even jacks set up for telephone lines. No tv though. And due to the setup the taxpayers are paying our utility bills for us."

"We'll call it a payment for services rendered as protectors of the peace," Anubis put in, scratching himself behind the ear as he sat on his haunches, "And believe me, when the excrement really hits the fan you'll be thinking they owe you quite a bit more. The Youkai are going to be getting both more powerful, and more intelligent as our own forces build themselves up. The big question is..."

"Whether they're going to match our learning curve, or overpower it," Daniel finished grimly. Anubis nodded. Ramses spoke up again.

"There is a bit of good news though. I've been going through the media archives in my spare time, and it looks like one or two of those Four Kings have already been taken out of the picture. It may be minor if everything you said about those fallen Lords is true, but it's still an advantage."

"And how the hell did you get access to the archives, from what I hear that kind of stuff is hard to get into."

"I managed to use some contacts of my father's in the news industry." Daniel raised one eyebrow as he looked over at his fellow Youkai fighter.

"By the way, what does your dad do anyway? I mean you already know about me and my mom's situation." Ramses nodded.

"Fair is fair. My father is the head of the promotions department for a Japanese branch of an extensive textile company that is based out of Egypt. After my mother died he needed to get away from all the memories associated with our home, so he asked for a transfer. He buried himself in his work and doesn't really surface very often, though he tries to keep informed of what's going on in my life. And here we are. On a side note, I learned Japanese fairly easily when we got here, a trait that I was informed was a carry-over from my latent powers as an Elemental Lord. Apparently we have the "Gift of Tongues"."

"Meaning... what?"

"Since our duties required us to traverse vast reaches of the planet and enter countries that we might not be familiar with, all of the Lords are able to quickly master any local language to an extent that enables us to carry out our duties in that place."

"Well I grew up speaking Japanese just as much as English, so I didn't notice a difference. Just the usual cold shoulder for being a gaijin, even if I am half Japanese." Ramses shrugged as he pulled out a small notebook and began to mark things down that they'd need for their base.

"It's the nature of the beast my friend. And speaking of beasts," he snapped the notebook closed and headed for the smaller of the two exits, which was concealed under the hood of half of a gutted out old truck, "have you seen what the papers have started calling us?"

Daniel grunted as he shoved the hood up, taking a quick look around to make sure he was unobserved before hopping out. "Yeah, the Dogs of War. Funny huh, that they'd stumble on part of our armor's activation phrase simply trying to give us a sensational name." Anubis followed close after him, shaking a bit of dust from his short coat.

"Personally I'm more worried about what they're saying beyond the headlines. There's a fierce debate about whether we should be captured and tried for violating the laws against carrying weapons and endangering public safety followed by a swift sentencing and jail time; a hands-off policy similar to what seems to be employed by the police when it comes to the Sailor Scouts, or if we should be offered official support, since the report on our battlefield they put together apparently points to us being much less inclined to collateral damage then the Scouts are."

"Now _that _is worrying. I don't like the idea of getting politicians and the police involved in this mess. It's bad enough that civilians get caught in the crossfire, but when you have well, and not-so-well, meaning official parties trying to stick their oar in too..." Fenrir shook himself, wincing at the thought of the potential messes. He blinked as he emerged into the sunlight behind the other three, before sitting down. "Well, right now all we can do is train, prep the base, and keep to the shadows. And we're going to have to stagger patrols, until we get another Lord or two there's just too few of us to risk on patrolling every night."

Daniel looked at his Adviser. "So randomized patrol routes and times, I get that, but what about if we need to contact each other in case of a threat in the area when we're not patrolling?" Fenrir gave a doggish grin.

"I was wondering when that was going to come up. Anubis, I believe the Lords are in need of their communicators." Anubis nodded, going over to stand facing Fenrir. For a moment, there was absolute stillness, and then... They began to howl. Daniel felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise as Fenrir sang the song of the hunters of the North, the sound that had come to represent all that was wild and free and untamed to most of North America. Then Anubis joined in, his tone lighter, yips and cackles that seemed to tease Fenrir for being so serious, while holding a barely veiled deadly edge to them. As the two finished their duet, a small rift opened in the air between them, two small glinting objects falling out.

"These gems," Anubis panted, "use the mystical energies in your bracers to transmit sound and images. Merely place them on your bracers to install them." Daniel picked up the sapphire, which was about a quarter of the size of his pinky nail, and looked at the bracer on his arm. A close inspection revealed that the wolf's eye socket was empty, and seemed to be the right size. Rhamses' was a piece of obsidian three times the size as Daniel's sapphire, that easily fit into the center of the design of his own bracer, which was bronze with a large depiction of the Eye of Osiris. There was a small flash of light as the gems merged with the bracers, and once it cleared it looked like they'd been set by professional jewelers.

Daniel tapped his a few times, before frowning and shaking his arm up and down. "Activate already!" he growled at the gem. The wolf's eye seemed to twinkle a little, as if laughing at its master reborn. The effect was enhanced by the chuckles that his little performance were getting from his audience. "Alright guys, you've had your yuks. Care to explain how these rocks work?"

Fenrir shook his head. "So impatient... Daniel, how did you get the armor to revert to bracer form in the first place?" Daniel looked at him for a moment, before a look of comprehension lit up his face.

"I willed it. So these things are controlled mentally?"

"That's right. To use them, simply focus on the gem and issue mental commands, such as "transmit" if you want to send a message to everyone, "transmit to" followed by the name, either in or out of uniform, of the person you wish to speak with, "receive transmission', "record", "play recording" and "mute" are all fairly self-explanatory. I'm sure that given time you'll find functions that I've forgotten about, but those are the main ones."

"So let's test 'em out." Daniel looked at the gem. '_Transmit to Jackal_,' he thought. A moment later the gem glowed blue, and projected a five by five inch screen of energy into the air above it. At the same time, Ramses looked at his own bracer.

"It's vibrating. Feels kinda weird."

"Makes sense though, wouldn't want to alert a potential enemy that you're there because of your arm ringing." Ramses nodded at his compatriot's logic.

"Indeed." He raised the bracer to about chest level and concentrated on it for a moment. A second later he had a viewscreen with similar dimensions to Daniel's hovering in a bit from his face. He raised one brow as he looked at Daniel through the screen. "Impressive." Daniel's grin was infectious.

"I think my inner geek just died of happiness."

Fenrir chuckled a little, before adding, "We'll be able to contact you through the gems as well, but only for emergencies and it's a one-way line. All the Advisers are able to put out a specialized sound-wave that any of the gems can pick up, but it's only good for short messages, no more than a phrase or single sentence."

"Why is it only one-way communication?"

"We're not physically capable of hearing the sound, or translating it properly into a message. Our inherent abilities can only do so much. There was technology that would allow us to use them at will for two-way communication, but I haven't seen anything that comes close to being advanced enough to take its place yet."

Daniel shrugged. "Well, at least this beats my idea of trying to scrounge some long-distance two-way radios."

* * *

A few days later found the two boys patrolling the entertainment and shopping district. Both boys stalked through the crowds in their "civvies", with Anubis and Fenrir acting point. The dogs had overheard someone gushing about how a fortune teller's booth that had just opened up was "too good to be true" while out on recon. They'd agreed, especially when Fenrir had done some sniffing around the hospital on a hunch and found a rather chatty janitor on a smoke break who'd shared his opinion about "all them poor outta-town folks who've been showing up in comas". A little more investigating of the shop itself had had the hackles on Anubis rising from what he'd described as "an insidious presence, like a wraith of poisonous fog, though not all that powerful". The boys had been occupied with refurbishing their operation center while this was going on with training thrown in where they could manage it, but the dogs had kept them in the loop the entire time, while also noting that there seemed to be a slight increase in Sailor Scout sightings.

'_Nothing out of the ordinary so far_,' Ramses thought to himself as he and Anubis completed another circuit of their quadrant (he'd started picking up more and more military terms as he trained with Daniel), '_Just the usual groups of girls looking for love charms and idiots looking to impress said girls with their "manly" attitudes._' And failing miserably he noted, as he watched a blond with waist-length hair maneuver out from between a couple of thugs. Then one of them lashed out, grabbing her by the arm. "And the rules just changed," he growled under his breath. He strode over just in time to watch the blond firecracker slap the thug across the face, only to be tossed into the grasp of his crony as he clutched his cheek.

"You little bitch! I'll teach you some manners!" He swung back, but found his wrist locked in a painful grip when he tried to swing forward.

"I think the one who needs the lesson would be you, friend," Ramses said coolly, tippling the sunglasses he was wearing down his nose just enough to give the hoodlum the full effect of his glare. Beside him, Anubis bared very white, very _sharp_ teeth at the other thug. "Let her go, _now_." Ramses ordered. The thug snorted, shifting so the girl was between him and the dog.

"Or what?" There was a sudden _crack_, and the teen's eyes rolled up into his head as he let go of the blond, slumping to the ground in a boneless heap.

"Or I do that," Daniel said brightly, rubbing his knuckles where he'd bruised them on the other teen's thick skull. Fenrir began to menace the immobilized thug from one side, as Anubis slunk to and fro in front of him, teeth bared, hackles up, and eyes nearly feral. A quick jerk had the jerk off balance, and Ramses shoved him over to his unconscious friend, clamping down on a smirk as the older teen stumbled to avoid Anubis' snapping jaws. "I'd take your friend and go reflect on how important manners are when dealing with a lady." His congenial tone was laced with steel, and the thug followed the veiled order, hoisting his friend up by his armpits, and dragging him away. Looking around, Daniel realized that they'd drawn a small crowd of rubber-neckers.

"Nothing to see here folks, just a discussion on manners that got a little heated! Move along please, have a nice day, thank you!"

As his friend played distraction, Ramses saw to the near-victim. "Are you alright miss..." The blond seemed to snap out of a daze, before smiling brightly.

"Oh, I'm Minako, Minako Aino."

Ramses nodded. "I'm Ramses, and my friend there playing traffic cop is Daniel." He had a very nice voice, low and a little mysterious almost, she giggled internally, and the reflective sunglasses added to that aspect. She realized after a second that he'd taken her hand in an effort to steady her, and couldn't help but notice that it felt _very_ nice to have his large, rough hand engulfing her own smaller hand in warmth. And then her nice little hormonal daze was shattered by Usagi's rather... piercing voice.

"MINAKO!" Usagi ran up next to her friend, nearly flattening the black dog before it managed to skip back out of the way, ears down, but not growling or baring his teeth. Usagi leaned against what she thought was a wall for a second, trying to catch her breath, before an amused cough brought her attention to the "wall"; which was in fact, Daniel's rather solid chest. She flushed bright red and leapt back, then began bowing continuously. "Eeep! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm _soooooo _sorry!"

Daniel merely smiled widely. "Well, I guess when that ad said I'd get rock-hard abs, it wasn't exaggerating."

"Hey Minako, who're your friends?" This came from a tall, rather leggy brunette with some rather impressive... attributes. She was accompanied by a shorter girl with waist-length black hair, who was giving the two boys suspicious looks.

"Mina, are these two guys bothering you?"

Minako smiled. "No Rei, actually they just helped me with a couple of jerks who wouldn't take no for an answer." The other girl, Rei, looked mollified by the answer, though not entirely trusting. Daniel gave her an appraising once-over.

"Rei huh?" Her gaze locked onto him like a laser-sight.

"Yeah, what about it?" she snapped. He held out his hands in a calming gesture.

"Nothing, I was just gonna say that you were appropriately named, you've certainly got plenty of spirit." Rei actually blushed for a moment at the offhand compliment, before regaining control of herself. The other girl started laughing.

"What's so funny Makoto?"

"It's just that he said you were "spirited", and you're training as a miko!"

One of Daniel's eyebrows shot up. "A priestess huh. guess I spoke truer than I knew." For a second he had a flash of deja-vu, but a shake of the head had it dissipating back into the ether. Rei seemed to be a little detached herself; but when she seemed about to speak, the high, terrified scream of a girl hit their ears. It was coming from the direction of the fortune shop.

"That's Naru!" Usagi exclaimed. Daniel and Ramses exchanged glances. No time to find a place to transform; they'd have to play this one by ear. They took off at a dead run, Daniel snatching up a heavy cane from a sidewalk vendor, tossing a random large bill down as he passed., shouting "Keep the change!" over his shoulder.

The two boys burst into the shop to find a brown-haired girl who'd been knocked to the ground and was now in the grip of what seemed to be uncontrollable terror. Her attacker was a fortune-teller themed youma, with crystal balls serving as breasts, and a short dress that seemed to be made of swathes of silk decorated with tarot cards and astrological symbols, while the body itself appeared to be made out of some sort of dark gemstone. Daniel took in its appearance with a glance, even as he interposed himself between the monster and its intended victim. "Back off ugly, this one doesn't feel like getting her palm eaten after you read it!" He brandished the can like a sword, his stance coiled and ready for action. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted a bespectacled boy slumped against the counter. "Ramses, get them the hell out of here! I'll hold this bitch off."

The youma appeared to take offense at being called first ugly, and then a bitch. "Crystal beam!" she shrieked. Twin blasts of light erupted from its chest, and the only thing that Daniel could think was 'I've heard of flashing, but this is fucking ridiculous!', right before they impacted, sending him flying; trailing curses that would have made a drunken sailor blush. After the past bit of training with Ramses, Anubis and Fenrir, he'd gotten rather good at timing his impact point, and now he closed his eyes and began to count down in his head till the real pain hit. '_And a three, and a two..._'

"OMPH!"

His thought process halted. '_Waitta minute, "omph"? Where's the pain?_' He cracked one eye open to find himself in the grip of a rather incensed looking Sailor Mars. "Well, my day's suddenly looking up, how about yours?" he cracked. In response she dropped him to the ground like a sack of hammers. "Ow! So much for being a warrior for love," he muttered as he looked down at the ground, rubbing his head.

"You idiot, do you have any idea what that thing is capable of?!"

"You mean besides the general energy-sucking nastyness that's par for the course with these things? I found out the hard way that she likes to flash people. And it wasn't in a good way either." He turned his head just in time to see a cloud of razor edged tarot cards coming at him, and by extension Sailor Mars. "Oh goody, she decided she wants to follow me home. MOVE!" Instead of hightailing it, she took a stance and began to chant some sort of mantra (or was it a sutra?) under her breath, before releasing a blast of flames along with the shout of "FIRE SOUL!" A moment later and the cards were ash on the wind. Daniel palmed his face.

"Right, fire elemental attacks make paper weapons pretty much useless, forgot about that." She crossed her arms and glared at him. "Hey, what's with the look, I was just trying to help somebody!"

"Well you should leave it to the people who know what they're doing." Daniel's eyes narrowed as he got in Mars' face. Behind him the monster prepared to attack again, but was interrupted by Ramses smashing a case of good luck charms over its head from behind, following it up with a bludgeoning from the cane that Daniel had dropped during his impromptu flight. it tried to retaliate, only to receive a jump-kick to the face from Venus, who'd gotten to the scene directly after Mars. Trying to get back its bearings, the youma found itself on the wrong end of a spare crystal ball to the face courtesy of Ramses, who followed it up with a leg sweep, before backing away and gathering the unconcious boy up into a single-man fireman's carry.

"Listen, just because someone doesn't have powers like you doesn't mean they aren't perfectly capable of helping out!" The two were so focused on their argument that they didn't even notice the other three Scouts arrival and attacking the monster, while Ramses had managed to get the boy out of the store, the girl, Neru, hot on his heels. Mars was poking him in the chest as she berated him for taking stupid risks, while he countered by looming and crossing his arms, shooting down her arguments about "leaving it to the professionals" with heated retorts along the lines of "and how many amateurs have ended up saving lives when the professionals were stuck in traffic?". Neither one of them even noticed the explosion that the monster's destruction kicked up after Sailor Moon used her tiara after the other three had worn it down. Daniel was winding up his loudest rant yet when Ramses tapped him on the shoulder. "WHAT!?" he spun to face his friend. Ramses jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the scorch mark on the pavement.

"Monster's gone, Mars has to leave before the reporters get here. I'm sure you two will be able to find some time to play later." Daniel's face heated as he realized exactly how involved the argument with Mars had gotten, though his complexion hid it. Unfortunately for Mars, she was more than a little lighter, so her flush of embarrassment was much more easily seen. Daniel scratched the back of his head, and gave a sheepish grin.

"Well, I feel stupid now." Ramses raised one eyebrow.

"As opposed to the rest of the when you feel... what?"

Daniel looked hurt. "Now that was mean. Don't you girls think that he was-" he turned to find that the Scouts had vanished. "Right then." He turned back to see that Ramses was giving him a Look. "What?"

"You got distracted. Not only you, but her as well." His teammate's voice was flat, accusatory. "What would have happened if I hadn't been here?"

"I would have been forced to step in," Fenrir snapped as he slunk up to the two. They'd made their way away from the scene at a casual saunter, before ducking down a sidestreet that was deserted, allowing the advisers to speak with them. "I doubt it would have gotten as far as you seem to think Jackal, but you do raise a good point." The wolf turned his amber gaze on Daniel. "It's imperative that you maintain awareness of your surroundings at all times, even when confronted by something, or some_one_ that can get under your skin like Mars just did. We will count what happened today as a lesson, but don't think that you're getting off with a simple scolding. We're going to be adding situational awareness to your training now. Sensory deprivation, both single senses and multiple senses, obstacle courses-" he lunged suddenly, knocking Daniel on his ass, "and unexpected attacks, until you're sufficiently broken of this particular bad habit."

Daniel rubbed his sore posterior. "This is gonna suuuuuck," he moaned to himself.

Ramses had to hide a smirk. "It's your own fault you know, if you hadn't gotten so caught up in arguing about something so petty with her in the first place."

Daniel growled low in the back of his throat. "I know, it's just there's something that's just-"

* * *

"Just so _infuriating_ about him!" Rei was ranting to the other girls at the shrine. Ami was nodding absently as she pecked away at her mini-comp, while Makoto was prepping some snacks she'd left at the shrine just for occasions like this. Usagi and Minako were merely letting the girl vent, though Minako had a thoughtful look on her face. She giggled suddenly.

"What?!" Rei snapped, spinning to face the Senshi of Love.

"Oh, I just thought of something funny. I think you might actually like that Daniel guy!"

"You're crazy!" But Usagi was nodding in agreement.

"It's like those kids who pull each others hair and stuff because they like each other and don't know how to tell the other person!" she clapped her hands, smiling brightly.

"No it's not!" Rei stamped her foot. Usagi and Minako just gave her looks. "It's not! Ami help me out here!"

"Sure Rei, I agree completely." Yeah, there wasn't going to be much help from that corner right now.

"Well what about that Ramses guy Minako? You seemed to be pretty into him!" Rule number one in an uncomfortable discussion, if you can't get out on your own, turn it back on the person who started it. Minako blushed a little.

"Well he's cute, he's foreign, and he and his friend _did_ help me out." She sighed. "I just wish I could have gotten his number or something!"

"Yeah, but what are the odds of us running into them again anyway?" Usagi asked.

"In a ward of this size, they're rather small I'm afraid," Ami piped up, having finished whatever she'd been doing and tuning back into the conversation.

If only they knew...

* * *

"**_INCOMPETENTS_**!" Beryl raged at Zoisite and Kunzite. The two Kings bowed their heads, letting their Queen's rage wash over them, awaiting their punishment for failure. Beryl managed to get a grip on her temper, and simply seethed at her two remaining Kings. "Tell me, how is it that not only did your latest creation fail to gather a single _drop _of energy, but it was held off by two mere _**boys?!**_" A rough laugh had her attention turning to a shadowed corner. "Have you something to say, Adamantite?"

A large man, burly and a little unkempt, with a scruffy black beard and curly black hair stepped into the dim light. He was dressed in a mishmash of armor, Greek greaves and bracers, Samurai-style shingled shoulder armor, an English Knight style breastplate complete with pauldrons, and a Roman armored kilt and sandals. He held a Corinthian helmet under one arm, and idly scratched his face with his free hand.

"Not really your Majesty, merely thinking that you shouldn't have set little boys on a man's task in the first place." Beryl's eyes narrowed.

"We've discussed this before, _General_, your youkai aren't suited to this task, they were made primarily to keep Earth's forces at bay while the youma drained the rest of the Solar System of energy." Adamantite shrugged, shifting his helmet in the crook of his arm.

"Be that as it may, your Majesty, with your permission I'd like to take control of the mission in Japan, with Zoisite under me. With my youkai running amok, perhaps a few more of his youma would fall through the gaps in the Scout's nets. I merely need to find insertion points that will make it more difficult to track their origins and movements." Beryl considered the proposal, tapping one long nail against her crystal ball while the two Kings kept their heads bowed and their lips sealed, even as they trembled in rage at the condescending tone the Fallen Lord took when talking of their failures. Beryl nodded.

"Very well. Zoisite!" The young King's head shot up.

"Your Majesty?"

"I am relieving you of your duties as head of our European Operations. Plasmatite will be taking them over." The "King" ground his teeth, but said nothing, only nodding, as Beryl continued. "You will instead be working directly under Adamantite. You will obey him as if he spoke with my voice, is that clear?" Inside, Zoisite raged, and that rage was plain to see in his eyes. But from the edge of his vision he could see Kunzite shaking his head slightly, and so he bit his tongue and followed his lover's silent advice, rising and bowing at the waist.

"It shall be as you command. your Majesty." Adamantite chuckled softly, ignoring the growls from Zoisite and Kunzite, before addressing Beryl.

"Right then. Well, your Majesty, I shall inform Plasmatite that you wish to see him about his new duties. And you," he addressed Zoisite, "Meet me in war-room theta for some proper planning at 1400 hours." With a low bow to Beryl he turned on his heel and left the throne room.

* * *

Zoisite snarled as he destroyed a pillar, muttering curses under his breath all the while. "Who does that blowhard think he is? I'm one of the Four Heavenly Kings, not some unruly page!"

"I would calm myself, if I were you Zoisite." The redhead jerked around, glaring at his lover.

"And what is there to be calm about Kunzite? These fools have taken our places as the Queen's most valued servants! If we don't do something then we'll end up like Jedite, locked away in crystal while Adamantite and Plasmatite take all the spoils for themselves!"

As Zoiscite continued to rant to his lover on how bad things had gotten since the Fallen Lords had shown up, neither noticed a tall figure in a lab-coat listening in the hall. The figure adjusted its pince-nez, and smiled crookedly as the lenses flashed in the dim light.

"Ah, so that's what happened to my old associate. I _had_ wondered. Now, how to make the best use of this information, that _is _the question, yessss." Muttering under his breath, the figure faded into the shadows.

* * *

Rei sighed to herself as she swept the steps of the shrine. It had been a rather uneventful day so far, and she'd seized on it to make up for some of the work in the shrine she'd been having to let go due to various Sailor Scout issues. Ever since Yuichiro's(1) family had called him in to take his place in their company after his father suffered an accident she'd been tasked with his old share of the chores as well as her own, but she hadn't been able to manage nearly as well as she would have without all the extra training and other Scout issues going on. She didn't know _how_ her grandfather had missed all the signs pointing to her double life, but for once she thanked Kami for his senility. Speaking of her grandfather, she could hear his voice coming up the walkway, and from the sound of it, he was giving a tour of the shrine to someone.

"As you can see, these statues are nearly four hundred years old, and still they stand as proudly as they did when they were first erected." As Rei wandered over to take a look at the newest gawker, a familiar voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Yeah, quality work stands out. My father had a bit of a woodworking hobby whenever he was home before he died; mostly small crafts, simple toys and things like that. He showed me some stuff my great grandfather made when he was teaching my father. You could tell by looking at them he'd put a lot of heart into making them. The medium may be different, but the care still shines through." Daniel was looking intently at a small stone kitsune statue, running one hand over the finely carved stone. Rei's grandfather was standing next to him, nodding and looking pleased that at least one youth today still respected the value of putting a lot of hard work into something. He caught sight of Rei.

"Ah! Daniel-san, please allow me to introduce my granddaughter, Rei."

Daniel suddenly shot up from where he'd been crouched, back straight as an arrow. '_There's no way,_' he thought to himself, before turning and seeing the girl from yesterday. '_Okay, maybe there is._' He tilted his head to the side, taking her appearance in. "Huh, when you told me you were a miko-in-training yesterday, I just couldn't picture it in my mind. Now I see it, and I've got to say, the look suits you." Rei colored a little.

'_How is it that this guy can grate on my nerves worse tha nUsagi when I'm Mars, but he can charm me like this when I'm just Rei?!_' she demanded of herself. Her grandfather peered intently at her, then back as Daniel.

"You two know each other?" Daniel looked completely at ease, even as a corner of his mouth twitched in a small smile.

"We met yesterday actually sir; after I and a friend of mine helped a friend of hers, Minako I think, out with a situation involving a couple of hormone-driven neanderthals." He chuckled. "Then she charged up and practically attacked us because she thought _we_ were the ones who'd been giving her friend trouble."

Grandpa Hino nodded sagely. "Indeed, my Rei has always had something of a fiery nature, coupled with a fierce protective streak." Rei colored further, and finally found her voice.

"Grandpa!" A harsh caw cut off whatever else Rei was going to say, as in a flash of ebony wings her pet ravens appeared, perching themselves on her shoulders and staring at Daniel. The boy stared back for a moment, before tilting his head to the side.

"Let me guess, Hugin and Munin?" The two birds set up a raucous cawing at that, beating their wings a bit and rocking back and forth on Rei's shoulders. To Rei, who knew their moods intimately, it was the equivalent of a fit of gut busting laughter for a human. Daniel stepped back a bit, taken off guard by the rather odd reaction of the two avians. "Odd birds, aren't they?"

"They're my pets, and I think they're perfectly nice," Rei snapped. Daniel held out his hands in a calming gesture.

"Never said they weren't. Odd is actually a lot better than normal in my opinion. Lot more fun anyway." Neither one noticed the way Grandpa Hino was eying them, nor would they have seen the speculative gleam in his eye had they even remembered his presence. Then the old man spoke up.

"Well Rei, do you think you could continue this tour for me? I have a bit of paperwork that needs to be taken care of." Rei wanted to protest, _oh _how she wanted to say no! But she refused to look childish in front of this boy, so she nodded dutifully.

"Alright grandpa." The old man cackled a little.

"Excellent, excellent! Well, it was a pleasure meeting you young man." Daniel nodded his head.

"Likewise sir." With that the old priest wsa gone, leaving the two teens to their own devices. A beat passed, then Rei's ravens took wing, circling the two one before heading off. Daniel shuffled his feet for a moment, he never had been too good with girls in a one-on-one setting.

"Sooooo... you live here with your granddad?"

Rei nodded sharply. "Yes. We're the caretakers of the family shrine."

"If it's not too sensitive a topic... what about your folks?" Rei froze for a moment, before looking away.

"My mother's dead." Her voice was flat.

"I'm sorry; I know what that kind of loss can be like." She spun to look at him, mouth opening to shout that he didn't have a clue, but froze at his next sentence. "My father died in combat a little under a year ago; routine patrol in a bad area that went south." He didn't sound bitter about it for some reason. "He ended up taking a rearguard action to cover the rest of his company. And when they'd made it to the extraction point, he noticed that they'd lost on of the new guys in the unit. Everybody else told him that the kid was already dead, but he went back anyway." He gave a misty-eyed smile. "The Sarge told me he staggered back ten minutes later leaking blood like a sieve, the new kid slung over his shoulder. He managed to walk all the way to the APC with him, and once he set the kid down he looked Sarge straight in the eye, said "tell my boy you never leave a man behind," and collapsed. He died before they could even try to stabilize him." Rei bowed her head.

"You father sounds like he was a very good man." Daniel wiped at his eyes with the back of his sleeve, while wondering, '_Why the hell did I tell a practical stranger all that?_'

"Yeah. I hope that when I go out, I can see him on the other side and he'll say, "hey kid, you did good." After my dad died my mom decided that it was time to come back home. My grandparents left her some property, and my dad's investments are more than enough to live off of for a time while she tries to find a decent job to supplement them." Rei was a bit conflicted. On one hand, this boy had shared something incredibly personal in what she assumed was an attempt to help get her off the subject of her mother's death. On the other, was there any reason that she should return in kind about her situation as a whole? After a quick second of thinking, she made her decision.

"I wish my own father was as good a parent as yours was. After my mother died he dumped me here with my mother's father and left to further his political career. He only comes back when it helps his image." Daniel winced at the venom in her voice when she spoke of her father, then scowled

"What kind of ass deserts his own kid like that?!" He paused. "Well, at least your grandfather seems to love you." Rei nodded.

"Yes, he does, but sometimes he's just so annoying. He acts more like a little kid than Usagi's brother Shingo sometimes! And when he's not doing that or shrine duties, he's leering at the girls that come through here!" Rei started on a rant on her favorite pet peeve aside from Usagi in general, her grandfather's failures as a responsible adult. Eventually Daniel couldn't help himself and laughed out loud.

"He sounds like the type of crotchety old man that I'd like to grow up to be," he chuckled. Rei stared at him.

"You're serious." Daniel smiled, and Rei had to admit it was a nice smile.

"Well, within reason of course. And only so long as my wife would let me get away with it." Daniel slapped himself mentally. 'Wife_?! Where the _HELL_ did that come from?!_' he caught sight of his watch, and blanched, it was almost ten minutes past the time he was supposed to be meeting with Fenrir for his first round of sensory training! "Crap, I'm gonna have to take a rain-check on the rest of that tour; a friend of mine needs my help with some stuff. I'll catch you later, okay Rei?" Rei nodded.

"Alright then. There's schedules for when the shrine's open out front, you can grab one on your way out."

"Coolness. See you later then Rei." With that he took off down the stairs, taking them two at a time easily by stretching out his long legs. As Rei watched him go, she couldn't help but think, '_Maybe he's _not_ so bad._'

"Well, he was certainly a nice young man."

"_**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!**_" Rei jumped nearly four feet into the air before coming down to see her grandfather standing sedately beside her. "Grandpa, don't do that!" Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What happened to the paperwork?"

The old man discretely tucked his manga farther up into his sleeve as he smiled serenely at his granddaughter. "I finished it already. It has been the better part of an hour after all." Rei stared at him for a moment, not having realized exactly how much time had passed. "But as I was saying, he was a very nice young man indeed. Had a good eye too, saw the quality in the shrine, the care put into it. I'd dare say he'll be back again to have another look." his eyes twinkled merrily as he smiled like he knew a secret Rei did not. Rei however, merely shrugged.

"He did say he was coming back to finish that tour Grandpa. I guess we might see him after that, but I doubt it, once most people come through here once they don't really bother coming back again." Her grandfather smiled that knowing smile again.

"We'll see Rei; we'll see."

* * *

Naru backed up against a wall nervously, as Umino tried to shield her, arms outstretched. In front of them was a gang of three older teens, brandishing a knife, a pipe, and a chain. "Why do these things always happen to me?" she whimpered. And the night had been going so _well_ too! After Umino's stunt trying to save her from yet another monster attack, and him receiving several lumps for it, she'd finally agreed to go on a date with him. To her surprise he'd taken her to a very nice sit-down restaurant, and ordered her favorite food for her! After that they'd gone to a movie that she'd picked out, where he had surprised her again by removing his glasses for the movie, saying something about not needing them for such a big picture, and the change his face seemed to go through once he removed the thick lenses was so devastating that she'd spent more time sneaking peeks at his face than watching the screen; and she'd actually felt a pang of disappointment when he'd put them back on as the credits rolled. After the movie he'd insisted on escorting her back to her home, and she'd been considering giving him a peck on the cheek when the three in front of them had accosted the two teens, driving them off the sidewalk and into a side street.

"Okay boy, you two give up your cash and you can walk away." Umino trembled a little, but didn't move from his protective stance.

"I'm sorry guys, but I don't have any money right now. Would you take an IOU?"

The one with the knife, who appeared to be the leader, leered at Naru from over Umino's shoulder. "Well if you can't pay in cash, I suppose we'll have to find some other payment." As he reached for Naru, the punk heard some scuffling behind him, followed by a pair of meaty thuds. Turning around, he managed to get a glimpse of a pair of hands balled together right before the vicious underhanded swing knocked him off his feet and out of the waking world. Rich brown eyes regarded the two teens for a moment, before their rescuer laid a hand on Umino's shoulder and giving a satisfied nod and a quick squeeze. Letting go and bending down, he removed the punk's wallet from his pocket, rifled through it for a moment and removed a wad of cash. Shuffling it with a professional air, he cut it into two halves, and held out one half to Umino.

"W-why are you giving me this?" Umino hadn't moved from his protective position, staring at the stranger who'd helped him and Naru. A gruff voice answered him.

"'Call it your cut. I would have had a hell of a time getting them if they hadn't been focused on putting you down to get to your girlfriend there." Numbly, Umino accepted the cash, as the stranger pocketed his own "share", and sauntered off, whistling a jaunty tune. He kicked the punk who'd had the chain in the ribs as he passed, stepped on the one with the pipe's groin, and was gone. Umino shared a look with Naru, and then the two took off, hand in hand. They stayed that way all the way to Naru's home, where Umino's gallantry was rewarded with a chaste peck on the cheek and a shy "goodnight"; leaving the bespectacled boy stunned on the porch for a second, before he launched into an ecstatic happy dance, which mainly seemed to consist of "The Robot". Across the street, the mysterious rescuer chuckled, having followed the two to make sure they arrived at their destination unmolested. Straightening his leather jacket, he gave a brief whistle, which was answered by the padding of feet and a short yip, before turning and disappearing into the shadows, leaving Umino to celebrate in relative solitude.

(1) Yuichiro is Chad, the surfer dude in the English dub, just for those who didn't know.


End file.
